ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Vanessa Hayden scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half and Florida scored the final 10 points to beat New Mexico 68-56 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Florida (19-10) advances to the second round of the Midwest Region and will face the winner of Baylor-Loyola Marymount on Monday.
New Mexico (23-8) used a 14-4 run to get within 58-56 with 2:57 left on a 3-pointer by Melissa Forest. The Gators' Tishona Gregory scored on a three-point play with 2:10 left, then hit two free throws. A layup by Danielle Santos made it 65-56 with a minute left.
Florida's Tashia Morehead scored 16, making a season-high four 3-pointers.
With Morehead going 4-for-4 from behind the arc, the Gators hardly missed Hayden in the first 20 minutes. Hayden sat out the last 11:50 of the first half with two fouls.
Hayden took over in the second half. She scored 14 points in the first 71/2 minutes and had nine of her 10 rebounds after halftime.
More Midwest
CHATTANOOGA 74, RUTGERS 69: Tiffani Roberson scored 15 and Katie Galloway had 14, including two key 3-pointers, for the 10th-seeded Mocs (29-2). Chattanooga rallied in the second half to win its first NCAA Tournament game and extend the nation's longest current winning streak to 27 games on its homecourt. Rutgers (21-12), the No. 7 seed, led most of the first half but got in trouble when leading scorer Cappie Pondexter picked up her fourth foul 10 seconds into the second half.
OKLAHOMA 58, MARIST 45: Freshman Leah Rush had a season-high 23 for the No. 3 Sooners (24-8) in Tempe, Ariz. Maria Villarroel had 12 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, and Dionnah Jackson scored 14 for Oklahoma. Stephanie Del Preore scored 12 for the 14th seed Red Foxes (20-11).
VANDERBILT 76, LIPSCOMB 45: Jenni Benningfield had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the second-seeded Commodores (25-7). Vanderbilt had little trouble winning its ninth straight. The 15th-seeded Bison (20-12), formerly in the NAIA, earned their first tournament berth in their first year of eligibility by winning the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament.
Mideast
BOSTON COLLEGE 58, E. MICHIGAN 56: Kathrin Ress made a back-door layup with 12 seconds left for the third-seeded Eagles (26-6) in Columbus, Ohio. With the score tied and 15 seconds left, Ress took a pass and banked a shot, the ball hesitating on the back of the rim. No. 14 seed Eastern Michigan (22-8), playing its first game in the NCAA Tournament, had Ryan Coleman's hurried 3-point shot from the top of the key go wide at the buzzer.
OHIO STATE 73, WEST VIRGINIA 67: Jessica Davenport scored 22 and Caity Matter hit five free throws down the stretch for the sixth-seeded Buckeyes. Davenport hit 10 of 11, and the miss could have been considered a deflected pass. She seldom went more than a step or two from the basket, helping the Buckeyes outscore West Virginia 46-16 in the paint. Kate Bulger, the Big East's top 3-point shooter, led the 11th-seeded Mountaineers (21-11) with 18 points, and sister Meg Bulger and Sherell Sowho each had 14. St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger, brother of Kate and Meg, was at the game.
TEXAS TECH 60, MAINE 50: Alesha Robertson scored 16 for the Raiders (25-7) in Missoula, Mont. Casey Jackson added 13 points and 12 rebounds and helped hold Maine's leading scorer, Heather Ernest, to three points on 1-of-9 shooting. Maine is 25-7.
HOUSTON 62, WISCONSIN-GREEN BAY 47: Chandi Jones scored 28 and the third-seeded Cougars (28-3) got their first NCAA tournament victory. Houston, winning in its third tournament appearance and first in 12 years, has won 22 of its past 23, including a school-record 13 in a row. The 14th-seeded Phoenix (23-8) played in its third straight NCAA Tournament. It couldn't counter the scoring-rebounding punch of Jones and Sancho Lyttle.
GEORGIA 78, LIBERTY 53: Cori Chambers scored a career-high 19 and Jessica Pierce added 17 for the third-seeded Bulldogs (23-9) in Philadelphia. Kristal Tharp scored 15 for No. 14 seed Liberty (25-7).
TCU 70, TEMPLE 57: Sandora Irvin, the niece of former Dallas Cowboys standout Michael Irvin, had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Ebony Shaw added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Frogs (25-6). TCU has lost in the second round each of the past three seasons. "They really took advantage of driving the ball down our throat," Temple coach Dawn Staley said. "We didn't respond well to that." The 11th-seeded Owls (21-10) lost in the first round for the second time in four years and have not won a tournament game since 1989.
Division III championship
WILMINGTON, OHIO 59, BOWDOIN 53: Tara Rausch had 19 points and 11 rebounds and the Quakers won their first title, dropping the top-ranked team from Brunswick, Maine, to 30-1.
